The Organic Empire is about delivering the highest quality organic foods all over Victoria. Real food grown by people that have passion for what they do and in turn create the freshest, healthiest organic foods around. To these our farmers, we take off our hats for their bounty is what keeps us healthy and alive.tastesbetter@organicempire.com.au

Monday, July 30, 2012

Living the sweetest life

Hope that you are all sweet (pardon the pun)... This week is all about living the sweet life sans the sugar. Allow me to step back in time, a time when a desire for sweetness was created as a survival mechanism, the sweet foods provided an abundance of instant energy and as much as we believe that we have evolved, humans have an underlying preferance for sweet foods.

Rather than deny our desires, I think that we can all make better choices, one's that contribute to a better body, health and overall life..why do I think that...??

Without going into it too much, refined sugar from the sugar cane contains no other vitamins and minerals and thus robs the body of the B Vitamin complex to process, these sugars when broken down are also responsible for cross linking of proteins, and feeding nasty bacteria's in the body.

There are many alternatives to sweeten up your day, that can provide nutritive qualities to support good health as well as provide the desire for sweetness.

A craving for sweets can indicate many things ;a blood sugar drop and the body signalling it requires more energy, can be a reaction to stress, a result of boredom, and so many other health factors.

So allow me to give you some alternatives, you choose what's best for you, just make it as healthy as you can!

Turbinado - is sugar made from the cane plant, not as processed as normal sugarr with only 1/3 of the molasses remaining. Same sweetness as table sugar.

Rapadura - is made from can, but is unrefine and unbleached. The sugar stream and original molasses remain together, meaning that nutritionally the essential vitamins and minerals are retained.

Sucanat - is made by dehydrating fresh cane juice. more refined than Rapadura

Agave Nectar - The Nectar or syrup is 50% sweeter than table sugar but has a low glycemic index.

Barley Malt - is a sweetener made from sprouted barley, it has a similar taste to molasses. It is 1/2 as sweet molasses so you can substitute for molasses or other sweeteners.

Brown Rice Syrup - is made from brown rice, with a slight butterscotch flavour, its 1/2 as sweet as table sugar.

Maple Syrup - This divine syrup, is a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals

Honey - is the food of the goods and its your friend too, make sure that you get Raw organic, so that you can be sure that the its still full of vitamins and minerals. Video to come later on this week

Stevia - This powder is 250-300 times sweeter than table sugar. No calories.

Personally for me, fresh raw organic medjool dates are the best sweetener, add them to raw and baked goods for a flavour that's real, healthy and alive.

The ultimate sweet treat though is raw fresh organic fruit, providing your body with all the essential minerals and nutrients, antioxidants, fibre, water and AMAZING TASTE.

For more information on living the sweet life jump onto our Facebook page and get involved. There will be tips on curbing sugar cravings, and creating a delicious bounty of sweet treats.

ORGANIC EMPIRE FOOD SCHOOL

If you are new to raw food preparation, then you must come and join us at our B-RAW workshop. THERE IS ONLY ONE SEAT REMAININGand in three hours, the amazing raw foodie Andrea Brosnan will teach you how to make green smoothies, raw treats, make amazing salads, dips, skin care and so much more with a light meal included. This is an event not to be missed. We only have a couple of seats left for this event, so be sure to book now!

Forgot to place your order??, register for our SMS reminder service and never miss getting the best organic produce delivered each week. REGISTER HERE. Once you are registered you can then text through your seasonal box orders whenever you like. How easy is that?